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In a promotional video for the 2023 Cincinnati Open, some tennis players, including Carlos Alcaraz, were given a couple of photographs from their past and asked to throw some insights into it. The 20-year-old gleefully replied to both photos, recalling the day he received his first trophy and the doubles match he played alongside Holger Rune.
Alcaraz and the other players could be seen lounging on a pink bean bag in the footage. When asked to describe the first image handed to him, the Spaniard stated it was from 2007, when he had most likely won his first trophy.
Kiko Navorro, his coach at the time, was also a part of the picture. He is thought to have introduced Carlos Alcaraz to his present coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.
“Yeah, I am holding probably one of my first trophies, it was in tennis school clothes, the beginning of the summer. He was my coach at that time. So probably it was 2007, something like that, I think. Probably one of my first trophies," Alcaraz mentioned.
Before being presented with another picture, Carlos Alcaraz jokingly mentioned he had done nothing but played tennis.
The next photo was of him and Holger Rune from 2015 when both of them played doubles together in junior tennis. The Spanish ace specified that they were 12 years of age when they made it to the French Open quarterfinals in Les Petits, which a lot of fans witnessed.
“I did nothing more than playing tennis. We were in Les Petits, playing doubles with Rune. I think everybody knows that a lot of viewers came out, it was under 12 so were 12. Yeah, it was 2015 if I am right, yeah playing doubles," he said.
Carlos Alcaraz reacts to being appreciated by Novak Djokovic after his Cincinnati loss
Carlos Alcaraz suffered a heartbreaking loss against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Cincinnati Open final on Sunday, August 20. He kicked off the game winning the first set 7-5 only to play tiebreaks in the following two sets, where he lost 6-7(7) and 6-7(4).
In a post-match press conference, Djokovic mentioned that he considers the 2023 Cincinnati Open final against Carlos Alcaraz to be one of the greatest matches of his career.
When asked about the appreciation he received from Djokovic, Alcaraz took pride in it and said that he and his team are progressing in the right direction and shall keep doing so moving forward.
“I don't know. As I said, for me it's great to hear that things from Novak, that he has played iconic matches, storied matches. He said some matches against me was one of the toughest that he has played, it's great. That means that my team and myself, we are doing the great work, we are in a good path. Matches like this one, we know that we have to still working in the same way that we were doing," he stated.
Carlos Alcaraz will now be looking forward to meeting the Nole at the Flushing Meadows, which starts next week.
